So this morning we were up at the crack of dawn (literally) and went out to play. Even that early it was already too hot for Wazzu. But the others had a great time chasing the ball and chasing each other. After about an hour they were all pretty hot and ready to rest.
We then set out to go have breakfast at our favorite breakfast place anywhere in the country - Pischke's. We'd been looking forward to this since we stopped by last year. We've been coming here for close to 20 years every time we're in town. Much to our disappointment the restaurant was closed - not as in closed down but just not open. There really wasn't any explanation as to why but I'll have to investigate as we really want to eat there while we're here.
This afternoon Boogie got to have his very own outing where the activity revolved around him. That's a big change as usually everything is just about agility which of course he can't participate in yet.
It's always fun to do activities that involve the dog's natural instincts. So today we were going to let Boogie give Earthdog a try. As you may or may not know, Border Terriers were originally bred to go to ground to catch mice, rats, foxes, etc. To show off those skills there is a competition called Earthdog. In this sport, the dogs go through tunnels trying to find the rat. The tunnels are made of wood and are only 9" x 9" square (with the earth being the bottom of the square). For beginner dogs the tunnels are 10' long with one 90 degree turn. The quarry is in a wire box at the end.
We were fortunate enough to be invited to participate in an earthdog practice. There were probably 20 dogs there - all of various levels of expertise. There were three "newbies" - of course Boogie was one of them. He hasn't shown any prey drive at all so we weren't sure that he'd be interested yet. We've been told that prey drive develops at different times in different dogs. Border Terriers don't typically show much prey drive until they are a year old - and some take three or four years. Jack Russells tend to develop their prey drive much younger - so we're told.
When we first arrived it was time to set up the tunnels. After getting the tunnels all arranged on the lawn in the appropriate pattern they got a bottle of rat urine (don't ask me where they get that stuff as I have no idea and didn't ask!) and sprayed it in a certain pattern near the tunnel. The very second they started doing that Boogie immediately perked up and showed a lot of interest in what was going on around him.
While the more experienced dogs were working in the super long tunnels they took the newbies aside to test each dog just to see how much, if any, prey drive they have. They take a little wooden box that has two sides made of wire and they put two mice in the box. A Westie went first and he showed no interest at all. They tried to get him interested but he just got scared of the box and ran away.
Then it was Boogie's turn. They set the box down and we started to walk Boogie toward the box. We got about five feet from the box when Boogie started going crazy. I let the leash go loose and he ran to the box and started barking and digging at the box.
We were supposed to praise him big time and really get him excited. He needed none of that - he was in his own little frantic zone. He wanted that mouse!
After letting him go berserk for about 30 seconds they said to get him back. Wow, what success. They kept saying he has tremendous and amazing instinct for such a very young puppy. I thought our turn was over and was quite pleased. But then Billie reached in the box and took out the mouse and set it down for Boogie to have. I guess at the very beginning they let the dog have the mouse as a reward so that they'll get rewarded for their instinct.
Well needless to say, Boogie thought this was a great idea! He raced over and grabbed the mouse - which the mouse didn't seem to appreciate at all and he bit Boogie. At this point Boogie cried and flipped the mouse up in the air, as you can see here.
But seeing a flying mouse just excited him more. Well Boogie just happened to get a mouse that was very lively. This mouse started running all over the back yard with Boogie close behind....well most of the time. At one point Boogie lost the mouse and the other people were all chasing the mouse trying to catch it so they could give it back to Boogie. This time Boogie was more careful and didn't let his mouse get away.
He played and played with that mouse. He must have a gentle mouth as the mouse just kept going - even though he was slowing down.
Even though Boogie would put the whole mouse in his mouth he never one chomped down.
But he did get a little aggravated when the mouse wouldn't move any more.
This must have really been a lot of fun as Boogie was getting really tired...and so was his little pal.
When Boogie finally stopped, there were more parts of his body moving as he panted than I thought was possible. I was really worried that he'd over done it. We tried to get him to drink but he was way too excited for that.
Now that he was definitely showing interest in the mice it was time to introduce him to the tunnel. They got out a short tunnel - probably only about four feet long - that was open on both ends. At first we were just supposed to call him through from one end to the other with treats. He wasn't wanting to do that so we were told to have me and one end and Mike at the other end. Mike was to call him through and give him treats. But that wasn't working so I was told to tell Boogie "get the rat, get the rat." So I pointed into the tunnel and said "get the Mike." Oops. Now Mike says he knows what I think of him! After a couple more tries Boogie was going through the tunnel willingly.
After that they take the same mouse box as was used initially and put it just inside one end of the tunnel. Boogie knew he wanted the mouse but wasn't so sure about going inside the tunnel. He knew the mice were at the other end so he just figured he could run around the outside of the tunnel to the other end - which of course we didn't let him do.
When he reached the end the leash and realized he wasn't going to get the mouse he came back around and slowly went into the tunnel.
He got super excited when he reached the end of the tunnel and came to the mouse box. He started to dig and punch at the box and was barking like crazy. This is exactly what he is supposed to do. At the beginning level he has to carry on like this for 30 seconds.
Now that he was understanding the tunnel a little bit it was time to move on to a very small portion of a real tunnel. The difference here is that the end of the tunnel is not open - in other words, it is totally dark in there when the lid is closed.
To start, they opened the lid and put a totally wire box just inside the lid so that Boogie could try to go in and find the mouse. Once again, Boogie was a little hesitant at first and needed some encouragement but quickly got the idea.
Just so you'll get a better idea for this - the tunnel is only 9" tall and Boogie is almost 14" tall - so he has to flatten down and crawl through the tunnel.
Here you'll see the inside of the end of the box. The dog crawls through the tunnel and at the end of the box there is a row of dowels. This keeps the rat safe from the dogs but the dogs can smell it and see it. In this case, someone is holding a mouse in that section. In a real competition both lids (the one over the rat and the one over the dog) are closed.
There is a lid just above where you see Boogie. In a competition, after the dog digs, barks, punches, etc. at the rat for a specified period of time you then open the lid and pull the dog out. No rats are harmed as they are behind the dowels.
For our practice we used little feeder mice. Someone would hold the mouse just on the other side of the dowels and Boogie would have to crawl through the tunnel to the end and go crazy for the mouse. And that's just what Boogie did!
To reward him for doing such a great job, he once again got to have his little mouse. But the mouse was much faster than Boogie and kept getting away. Eventually Boogie caught it and played with it.
By now, Boogie was totally worn out! Two things I know for sure. The other dogs are really going to give him a good checking over when he gets home and he is going to sleep well tonight!
I washed my hands for a LONG time after we got home as I had to hold a mouse by the tail. The things I do for my dogs!
Debbie
10/15/07
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